It's been almost two decades since Montgomery Gentry started attending award shows and the duo has seen a lot of things change in the shows and in country music as a whole.

Using the upcoming ACM Awards as an example, Troy Gentry says that everything from the technology on stage to the sound of the music is different than when they got started in the industry.

"Just how they do all the lighting, all the new artists coming up, the way the sound is changing and the format. Taking all that, it's changed dramatically from when we started 16 years ago to the award shows today as far as the new artists, the new music, the change in the music throughout the years," he tells the Boot.

Their new album, Folks Like Us, is set for release this summer and while they've been out promoting the project, the duo is starting to realize that their music has had a big impact on a lot of those new artists.

"You know, it's kind of wild 'cause we've heard that, especially because we've got a new CD coming out June 9," Eddie Montgomery says. "We've been going around promoting it and we've had a lot of radio guys going like, 'Hey man, y'all were kind of the influence on a lot of this music,' and we're going like 'Well, we can't take credit for it, you know, Charlie Daniels and Hank [Williams] Jr.!'"

"The guys we grew up on is where we started our music from, you know, the Lynyrd Skynyrds, the Waylons, the Cash's and stuff like that," Gentry adds. "You know, it's flattering that is happening, but..."

With the release of Folks Like Us quickly approaching, the pair has been reflecting on what the album and its title track, which is also the lead single, mean to the band.

"All of our music throughout our career's always been about family, faith, our military, our support of small towns and support of blue collar workers," Gentry says. "It's kind of funny, this single here, 'Folks Like Us,' kind of takes all that theme into one song and captures it all in one big hit. But the whole album is still true to the Montgomery Gentry vain of being proud supporters of all that."